


Of Feathers and Friends

by Jiggle_Physics



Series: The Arcana [2]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Background Relationships, F/M, Familiars, Fluff, More Chapters to Come, Nightmares, No Beta, Observant bird, Protectiveness, We die like men in this house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-30 03:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17820965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiggle_Physics/pseuds/Jiggle_Physics
Summary: When Nadia is left under Shillelagh's keeping the bearded vulture solves a problem her way.Asra first meets Shillelagh with a crash.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's fluffy-ish, right? 
> 
> Expect light drabbles with each character and Shillelagh's interactions with them!

It becomes abundantly -painstakingly-clear who Shillelagh is accepting of and not. Nadia is the first to gain that piercing gaze. Asra and Kyah had left the overseeing of the Countess to Faust and Shillelagh, a task the latter did not take lightly. The nightmares came to Nadia, waking her and then allowing a moment of blissful silence before sending her into another horror.

Shillelagh had noticed first in the way the human moved, then the way she walked with a tenseness, or when sitting shifted far too often because of sore muscles from fits. The familiar's master wouldn't be pleased. Nadia was a friend, treasured and allowed into the little world the, previously four, had made. Her care was Shillelagh's concern now. 

The night had started as always. This time though the bird was determined to get the woman a whole night of rest for now, at the very least longer hours instead of the fleeting minutes. Before Nadia blew the last candle out to send her bedroom into darkness Shillelagh tapped insistently against her door. Then trilled when it didn't open, after a few moments of the unrelenting sound the human finally opened the large window. 

"Oh, Shillelagh, has something happened?" Her voice was exhausted, the bird didn't bristle or fly as a response instead walked into the bedroom observing it. 

She needed to be someplace high where she could examine everything and gauge what exactly was causing the terror. Yet, close enough that the soft red gaze could fall upon her feathers and know safety in their onyx color. Nadia looked at the bird in a mixture of amusement and confusion. 

"Finding a new perch?" It was a playful question as Shillelagh found a spot on the top of the bed's canopy and settled in, "By all means."

Nadia did admit to something offsetting about the large creature that seemed to loom above her but pushed it aside. Kyah was a dear friend, and the bearded vulture was nothing besides civil to the Countess there was no reason it should bother her too much. Sliding beneath the silken sheets Nadia committed to another long night before drifting off in the embrace of sleep.

Shillelagh stayed awake for hours more simply taking in the extravagant room. Beautiful silks, pillows, golden colors with accenting hues and a wide door that led to the balcony outside. She wagered silently that her master would like to pile them up in a corner and sleep in the makeshift nest with her mate.

In her idle musing, a quietness fell over the room, a coldness that spilled into its cracks perfuming the room with something foul the not even she would eat. It was golden and red and seemingly more animal than man but it stalked making her feathers rise while her wings flared. Shillelagh was nothing if not a creature of patience. Her diet consisted of death making her wait for the right moment before striking. Nadia tossed, turned, whimpered and gripped her sheets but still, the bird waited. 

It was when a hand or what she could deem a hand reached out when she swooped down from her perch. The noise that rattled from her chest and throat startled both beast and human. A mix of a monstrous hiss and snarling growl shaking her body caused the creature to pause. 

_The familiar._

_Begone. The dead have no right to what is under my keeping._

It refused, not saying a word but not moving. Shillelagh never had the temperament to deal with such creatures. Her wings unfurled, eight feet of onyx shimmering in the moonlight, covering Nadia and kicking up a mighty wind as she lifted herself from the bed. 

_I said begone!_

It was clear the thing didn't think she could injure it, a falsity swiftly realized when sharp talons dug into fur tearing, cutting, ripping. The goat-like thing shrieked, screamed, then retreated before she settled onto the headboard. Nadia was safe, her job finished at least for this night. The Countess looked up with something like gratitude or wonder. Shillelagh simply shifted her footing, razor-sharp talons making a clicking sound and no doubt ruining the wood under her touch, and turned her gaze back to the room. 

Nadia slept for the first time in what felt like weeks. And then again the next night. Then the next. If there was a finely carved, comfortable, and expensive perch in Nadia's room when the Magicians returned it could very well be a simple precaution. After all, Shillelagh was her friends familiar and should have the same comforts.


	2. Dogs and Fluffy Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to some 'encouragement' from a particularly canine familiar, Shillelagh makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought something cute and fluffy would be fun.

Shillelagh meets the wide-eyed amethyst, with a mop of brilliantly white hair, street urchin when her master is thirteen. She's still trying to coordinate her wings, young and unsteady as they were, with the hound familiar chasing after. Encouragement, Rye had said before tossing both her familiar and niece out after Shillelagh. The large hound was enjoying himself all to completely, snapping jaws playfully at the bird's tail feathers, barking loudly at her if she swooped too low, and growling when she squawked back. 

"Mads stop biting at her!" Shillelagh knew it wouldn't change the demon's mind, bloodthirsty as he was. 

This might be her damnation for all the times she woke him and Rye up. She couldn't even lose him in the crowds flooding for the Masquerade! Having had enough she took a sharp draft up letting it spin her back towards the shop. Admittedly she didn't have an idea of what to do when she got there but get there and away from Mads would be a blessing. Her wings were so tired. 

There was a stand...small, simple, that hadn't been there this morning. A boy was doing tricks and selling masks. She couldn't hide from Mads' all to keen nose. The decision was calculated and considering the ramifications in the future, not a bad one. Shillelagh waited, keeping herself hovering before promptly landing on the fluff of hair startling him. 

"Oh! Um, hello?" She chittered at him and tilted her head making him grin, "I'm Asra, and you are?"

 _Friend?_ She was shocked to see a small snake resting against his collar bone with the most strange hues for scales that she'd ever seen on a snake.

_Friend. Hiding._

The boy was smiling at her as best he could and gently scrubbing over her feathers. He was warm and was able to scratch just right under her beak making a sharp but happy sound rattle from her. He even let her muss up his hair to better hide behind, not that it matched up with the color of her feathers. 

"What could you be hiding from, huh?" She was puzzled for a moment that he'd heard her. 

Mads came bounding through the crowd, her master not even a breath behind him, "Mads stop, heel boy! Stubborn jackass!"

Perhaps it wasn't the best thing to call the dog that stopped just short of the stall forcing the girl to trip with a curse and fall straight into Asra. Shillelagh grabbed up the snake lest the animal be crushed between the humans and up onto one of the only still standing planks, cawing rather smugly at the mutt growling below. 

"What in the name of the Gods is 'appenin out here?" The bird froze knowing that voice, Rye stepped out the back of her shop with arms crossed glaring at the sight, "Well? Mads?"

The dog barked loudly while his eyes glazed over just slightly along with Rye's, telling her the whole of the story no doubt. Her master and the boy -Asra- sprung apart since then looking away from each other. 

"It was Mads' fault! If he wasn't chasing Shillelagh then I wouldn't have tripped over him!" Kyah was trying to frantically explain, "Then fell ontop of...um?"

_Asra!_

She chirped happily taking the snake back to its master and settling onto the soft hair rather content with the new perch.

_Made Friend_

"Did you now?" Rye gave the fledgling an unusual if amused look, "Well, might as well invite ya in for lunch, least we can do."

Shillelagh sat comfortably watching from her perch as they walked in through the back room, atop Asra's head.


End file.
